Hospital admissions for drugs soar by 35 per cent

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Most were admitted with mental and behavioural problems linked to illegal drug use.

Medics in Lambeth dealt with more drug users than anywhere else in the capital, with 82 needing treatment after overdosing on drugs and 182 for suffering mental health problems.

The latest figures were revealed by the NHS Information Centre, which published them alongside other drug data to create the first comprehensive picture of drug use for clinical purposes.

The report also shows more people take ecstasy in London than almost anywhere else in the country, while cannabis is the most widely used drug.

Today's figures, which relate to 2006/07, show that in London 1,244 people were treated in hospital for mental health and behavioural disorders caused by drugs. Doctors also treated 906 people for overdosing on illegal substances.

Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark were among the Primary Care Trusts treating the most drug users. Richmond and Twickenham, Kensington and Chelsea and Barking and Dagenham were among the lowest.

London is joint first with the North West in the league table of ecstasy users, with 2.4% of people in both areas admitting taking the clubbing drug.

8.4% Londoners said they took cannabis, while 2.9% of Londoners said they had taken cocaine in the last year in both powder and crack cocaine form.

Nationally the number of under 25s being treated in hospital for mental health problems caused by drug use has risen by around a fifth in a decade.
There was an 18% rise among children and young people, from 6,236 in 1996-97 to 7,385 in 2006-07.
The number of admissions among those aged 25 to 34 also nearly doubled over the decade.

Today's figures also showed that men are more than twice as likely as women to receive hospital treatment for mental health problems linked to drug use.

Men accounted for nearly 80% of the 1,573 drugs deaths in 2006.

NHS Information Centre Chief Executive Tim Straughan said: "This bulletin paints a picture of wide discrepancy between the number of men who take, are treated, or even die from drug use compared to the number of women.

"The fact more than 1,500 people died due to drug use in 2006 is extremely saddening in itself, but the fact so many of these deaths are male raises many questions about gender and drug misuse."